The Dimensional Compass
by SammySpartan
Summary: The King is dead. The Princess, missing. Hyrule is now led by a tyrant. The people ask for a hero. But the hero is gone, trapped in an alternate reality alongside the Princess with only one way out: The Dimensional Compass, which is hidden in the heart of a word of forests and plains. It will take both to survive, and they have long journey ahead. Rated T for language and violence.
1. Twilight Festival

My newest story is ready. Remember to review!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Legend of Zelda Franchise. Nintendo does.

* * *

LINK  
I woke up to my brother, Jerome, shaking me violently.

"Link! Come on! You're gonna be late for work!" He yelled.

I groaned. "I thought it was Sunday..."

He laughed. "Come on! Did you forget? It's the Twilight Festival!"

My eyes shot open at this remark. The Twilight Festival was in honor of the Hero of Twilight who saved both Hyrule and the Twilight Realm almost 200 years ago. It lasted a week, and everyone in Castle Town would be there. Even people from the outside villages came to visit, so business jumped up by a lot.

Sometimes, the royal family will come down. They'll look at the stalls, and occasionally buy something. If they buy from you, you instantly become legend.

"Alright, let me get up, and get ready. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes." I said, still half asleep.

"You sound tired. How about some tea?" He offered.

I accepted his offer, and threw myself out of bed. I threw on my favorite green shirt, and some jeans that happened to be at the top of my clothes drawer. I looked in my closet for a moment, before deciding to grab my lucky hat. I got it from my father, just before he left to go fight in the war that would kill him. I left to the bathroom to shave, and brush my teeth.

"Tea's ready, when you're done!" Jerome called.

"Alright, little cub. Don't strain yourself." I said.

"It's not my fault your to lazy to do it yourself." He teased.

I let out a soft chuckle, and walked into the main room. The room composed of a small kitchen, a dining area, and a lounging area, with a bookshelf, two sofas, and a fireplace.

I went to go sit at the table, and began to drink my tea.

"What are we selling this year?" Asked Jerome.

"Mostly fruits and vegetables, but maybe some leftover pies from yesterday, as we didn't sell them all."

He simply nodded, and started to walk to the door.

"Where are you going, little cub?"

"To get a head start on the other stalls." He replied.

"I thought I asked you not to strain yourself." I told him.

"Sorry, can't hear you over the people with nothing to buy!" He called out.

"There's no one out there!" I tried to tell him, but he was already out the door.

I quickly finished my tea, and left to go follow him.

* * *

ZELDA  
I woke to my head maid, Impa, opening the curtains on the window in front of my bed. "Time to rise, your highness."

"I thought I asked you to call me Zelda, Impa."

"If I did that, your father would have my head." She said, simply.

"I doubt that."

"Perhaps your right. Either way, it's a risk I'd rather not take."

I nodded, and pulled myself out of bed, and onto the floor. Impa had already laid out the dress I had asked her to the previous night, and I quickly changed myself. Father had said that I could go where I wanted this year for the festival, so I wanted it look my best for the people who come.

I went down to the royal dining hall, where my mother and father were already. It was built at my great-grandfathers request, as a way to keep the royal family close, which I always thank him for. He'd also risen the age for suitors to the princess to 23, so I can thank him that I'm four years away from that as well.

"Good morning, my dear." My father welcomed.

"Good morning, father. And thank you again for letting me go off on my own this year."

"You're a 19 year old princess. You can handle yourself."

I ate my breakfast quickly, wanting to head out to the festival as soon as possible. It was pancakes with syrup. Not exactly Hylian, it was Termian, but nonetheless, it was my favorite.

"I'll be off then. Goodbye, father, mother."

"Goodbye, my dear. Oh, before you go, I've assigned Ignavus as your guard."

I sighed. "Yes father."

The only down side to going on my own, was I need a guard.

And with that, I left.

* * *

LINK  
The stall wasn't much, just a medium sized stall. The way we managed to do so well was because I had my storage crates enchanted to keep my food as fresh as possible for as long as possible, so I made a pretty decent living off of it.

I arrived just as the people started to arrive. Jerome and I were calling out things like "Fresh food for sale!" and "Best fruits and vegetables in Hyrule over here!" We had some usuals, like my friend Tyson, and Jerome's girlfriend Grace, and we had some people all the way from Kakariko Village.

After about a few hours or so, the unimaginable happened. Princess Zelda came to my stall. I just gave Jerome a break to spend some time with Grace when she came.

"Hullo, your majesty. What can I do for you?"

"Who was that boy just now?" She asked.

"My brother. He'd been working since this morning, so I gave him a break."

She cocked her head to the side a bit. "Since this morning?"

"Our parents died a while ago, so we do what we can. We've actually done pretty well for our selves, although he's a bit of an over-achiever."

She smiled. "It's good to see there are young men in this world who care more for work then women."

I returned the smile. "Indeed Your Majesty."

She looked down to see our wares, when she noticed my right hand.

"What's that?" She asked.

"This? It's a scar. I got it while saving my brother from a fire."

"It's a big scar."

"I had to jump, over the flames to get to him."

"That was very courageous of you. Anyway, I'll take an apple." She said.

"Of course. That'll be two rupees."

"Thank you..."

"My name is Link." I told her.

"Thank you Link."

"You're welcome anytime, your majesty."

She placed the money on the table, and I have the apples which she took, and walked away, all the while eating it.

Just then, Tyson walked up, dragging his jaw along with him.

"Was that- Is she-" He stammered.

"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies." I laughed.

"Link!"

"Yes, that was Princess Zelda."

"You lucky son of a bitch."

"Blame the cap." I said, pointing to my head.

I looked up, and saw the sun setting. It was time to close shop for the nightly games.

"Time to close up shop."

I closed the crate of apples, and hung up my closed sign, then turned to Tyson.

"Let's go find Jerome and Grace."

He nodded, and then we left.

* * *

So, that was it. Chapter one.

UPDATE: This chapter has been spell checked.


	2. Tournament

Thank you all for the good reviews, and a favorite already? Fastest EVER for me! Enjoy, and remember to review! Criticism is always welcome, even if you just want to give in a good word!

* * *

LINK  
Tyson and I went out into the night, walking through the masses of tourists and locals, trying to find Jerome and Grace. I'd promised them that the four of us would try our luck at the Archery Contest.

"Where to you think they are?" Tyson wondered.

"Probably over at Archery, waiting for us." I responded.

We found Grace a short time later, in front of a bar, looking worried.

"Link! There you are! Do you know where Jerome went?" She asked.

"No, I thought he was with you." I responded.

She was visibly shaking now.

"Ohnoohnohnooh-"

"Don't panic, we'll find him. He's probably at Archery, where we were going to go anyway." Tyson soothed.

Grace nodded, and we made off to archery, like normal. When we got there, we didn't see Jerome.

I tried to convince Grace that it was fine. "Maybe he got sick, and went home. It wouldn't surprise me, he's working so much. Besides, he didn't want to participate anyway. He isn't very good, or so he says."

Grace stopped shaking. "Then I'll go to your home and find him."

Before we could stop her, she was off.

"That girl," I started, "Is going to hurt herself over him. Anyway, we might as well start."

We filled out the entry sheets and grabbed our bows and quivers, each with three arrows. The grips were smooth, but not so much where it would slip from your grasp, and the string was from Skulltula string, and the arrows were feathered with hawk feathers.

We waited for the rest of the contestants, before we were sent to the arena. It was shaped to funnel the announcers voice, while keeping it quiet for the people outside. The Arena itself was designated for horse races, but is modified for this tournament every festival.

"Ladies and Gentelmen of Hyrule!" The announcer began, "Welcome to the 32nd annual Hyrule Archery Tournament of the Twilight Festival!"

The crowd cheered. The announcer began to call off names, but I didn't really pay attention till' he got to my own.

"Welcome to the stand, Link Paralio!" The crowd continued to cheer for me, as they did all the others.

"Next up, we have Tyson Edioloi!" The crowd cheered once more.

We waited a while longer, until the last contestant was called.

"And as a special guest, welcome Her Majesty Zelda, Princess of Hyrule!" The announcer called.

Tyson's head shot up. I raised an eyebrow, and the crowd, and the other contestants cheered, some maybe a little too loud.

Sure enough, the Princess herself walked up onto the last platform.

I shook my head, and faced my target, preparing myself.

The announcer began to count down.

"Five!"

I got into a stance, and looked around.

"Four!"

I readied my first arrow.

"Three!"

I pulled my arrow back.

"Two!"

My heart was beating fast.

"Release!"

A barrage of arrows made their way into each target, many hitting, many missing altogether. I hit my target right in the middle.

"Continue at will!" The announcer shouted.

I readied my arrow, and began to go through th process again. My arrow hit the target, and split my first arrow right down the middle. There were a few gasps, and even Tyson seemed surprised, as there was an audible "No way..." muttered from his position.

I followed the same process again, and released my third and final arrow, splitting the second down the middle, just as I had done before.

"Well, this is unexpected. We seem to have a tie! The first in ten years"

I looked around in disbelief. Who had gotten the same shots as I had? Surely it wasn't...

"Princess Zelda and Link Paralio! You must have a duel, in the art of sword fighting!"

An official walked up to me and gave me a fake sword, one for duels such as this, where the object wasn't to kill, but land a strike on your opponent.

We walked to the tiebreaker area designated for times such as this, and we faced each other.

The princess looked at me. "Your that man form the stall, the one who had to save his brother from the fire. Link, wasn't it?"

"Hullo again, Your Highness. I never got a chance to say thank you for calling me courageous."

"Your welcome, sir.

"In won't go easy on you, just because your the princess." I warned.

"I don't want you to." She said, simply.

"Fight!" The announcer called out.

The princess lunged at me. I blocked her attack, and jabbed at her stomach. She sidestepped, and came down on my back. I roled to the left and swung at her arm. She jumped back, and guarded herself.

ZELDA  
My plan was not working. I was trying stun him, so I could get at him quickly, but it was proving to be quite challenging. I decided to try and tire him out, or at least get a feel for his stamina.

I waited him out, but he wouldn't move. It was then I realized: he was fighting defensively, trying to tire me out, like I was to him.

"I thought you weren't going easy on me." I taunted.

"Is the princess of Hyrule trying to taunt me?" He came back.

Damn. He knew that strategy.

"Answer the question, please."

He lunged at me, jumping in the air and coming down. I tried to block, but the force was so strong that my blade broke and I fell to the ground. It was then that something had poked my back.

"I win."

I rolled over, and he stuck out his hand, to help me up.

"Thank you, sir."

"Your welcome, Your Highness."

LINK  
Just then a crack was heard from the air. We looked up and saw the fireworks beginning to explode into an beacon of light in the sky. It was then I got a good look at the announcer. He had bluish grey skin, a devious smirk, and a malevolent presence. He also carried a staff with an odd jewel on its top.

"Congratulations, Link. You have won the tournament. Your reward? Permanent removal of your 'scar'." He said.

I covered my hand, and looked at him with disgust.

"What are you taking about? You can't remove a scar."

"If only it were a scar." He said. And he raised his staff. It let off a blood red light, and then it flashed. My scar disappeared form my hand, and a golden triangle appeared over the mans head.

"I have no longer any need from you, mortal." And his staff flashed. I saw red, then white, then black.

ZELDA  
"You may have the two other Triforce, but I still have mine!" I yelled. "And I won't let you have it!" With that, I raised my hand, and created a magical shield.

He sighed. "Like that'll stop me." He muttered. And then his staff glowed again,mind my Triforce was gone, appearing with him, like Link's had before me.

"Goodbye, Princess." He laughed, and then, I blacked out.

* * *

Liked it? Thanks! Im trying my best.

UPDATE: This chapter has been spellchecked.


	3. Steve

Chapter Three is here! Remember to review! Creative criticism is always welcome.

* * *

LINK  
I awoke to the sound of barking, and a man yelling "Heel, Heel!" A feminine voice to my right was groaning, and I could feel a grassy surface below me. I slowly opened my eyes, and let them adjust to the light. I couldn't believe what I saw.

"Wha- Where am I?" I asked, to no one on particular.

"Welcome to Magnan Saltun, outside of the Empire of Arbores." A man's voice said.

"Magnum- what?" I looked in the direction of the voice. It was a middle aged man, with a bright blue shirt, darker blue jeans, and medium length brown hair. He had a white dog to his right.

"Magnan Saltun. May I ask where youve come from? I've never seen you before, and I've been in this saltun for 20 years."

"My name is Link, from Hyrule."

A voice to my right spoke up. "And my name is Princess Zelda Nohansen, also of Hyrule." I looked in that direction, and sure enough, Princess Zelda was there.

"My name is Steve, and this is my dog, Husky. We are honored to meet you, although I have no idea what this 'Hyrule' is."

"Figures. It isn't in this dimension." She replied.

Steve looked just about as confused as I was.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her.

"The staff used against us is none other that The Staff of the Deku, a staff carved from a branch of the Great Deku Tree. It has the power to send people to other dimensions, and apparently, take away the Triforce." She told me.

My jaw hit the floor. "What?"

"There's a lot I need to tell you, isn't there?" She said.

"Probably." I replied.

"Well, no use sitting here. Follow me, I'll show you two to my home. You can explain everything there. I've got room." Steve said.

* * *

Once we arrived at his home, we sat at what appeared to be a dining table. The Princess and I took one side, Steve took the other.

"Okay, time for a story." Zelda said.

"Long ago, after the creation of Hyrule, the Three Goddesses, Din, Goddess of Power, Nayru, Goddes of Wisdom, and Farore, Goddess of courage, created the Triforce, a legendary artifact that granted immense Power, Wisdom, or Courage to whoever was in possession of which independent Triforce. When the three are combined, it grants the user on wish, what ever their heart desires, then splits apart and each individual Triforce is hidden. Link, your scar wasn't a scar. It was the Triforce of Courage. I had the Triforce of Wisdom. That man took them from us, and likely had the Triforce of Power with him. I know him. His name is Ganondorf, and is the King of Romun, a City-State I was the ambassador to."

"What does that have to do with 'inter-dimensional travel?'" I asked.

"I was getting to that part. The staff I mentioned earlier is only one way to get between the many dimensions. There are plenty more. The most well known is the portal to the Sacred Realm. There are also infinitely many dimensions." She told us.

"Steve, are there any legends that describe one of these ways to get between dimensions?" She asked.

"I din't know. I'd have to ask the scholars in one of the cities. But that's a few hours travel by horse. About a day on foot." He responded.

"Then we're stuck here for a while." I chimed in.

"I din't have the best of guest quarters. It's only one bed, so either you two would have to share, or one of you has to sleep on the floor." Steve informed.

"I don't mind sharing, but I'd prefer the floor, as long as you have a blanket." I told him.

"Of course I do!" Steve exclaimed.

"Hold on. Why don't I sleep on the floor? You can have the bed, Link." Zelda said.

"No, you have the bed. You're the princess." I said, firmly.

"I'm no princess here. You have the bed." She countered.

"But you're a girl!" I yelled.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She asked.

"I'm not taking the bed." I stated.

"How bout' ya stop arguing and both use the bed?" Steve said.

"Um, well, you see..." Zelda started.

"We've only known each other for a day..." I continued.

"Stop bein' a couple of babies. Your just being awkward. I'll make a second one overnight, so you only need to share for a night. Until then, follow me outside, and I'll show up you how to use the forest to your advantage. It can be useful."

"That seems fair. Deal." I said.

Steve gave us both a bow and some arrows, and a dagger for skinning animals. He led us to a small clearing about a half a mile away where he said that rabbits like to gather during the day.

When we got there, it was very clear something was wrong. Branches were scattered about, and there were dead rabbits strewn about.

"Well, this isn't right." Steve said.

I drew my bow. "I feel a fight coming."

Zelda copied me. "As do I."

I readied an arrow, and lifted my bow. Zelda followed.

"Wait for it..." I said.

"Wait for what?" Steve asked.

As if on cue, a large, brown bear leaped out of the forest and charged us.

"Fire!" I yelled.

My arrow made its way into one of the bear's legs. Zelda's hit its snout. The beast stopped charging and snarled. I put away my bow and drew my dagger in its place. The bear charged my and I rolled to the left, and stabbed its eye. It screamed in pain, and Zelda managed to get a shot off into the bear's maw, killing it.

"Nice kill." Steve complimented. "We're eaten' well tonight!" He then promptly skinned the bear.

"We should get back to you're home, before it gets dark." Zelda warned.

* * *

We arrived back at Steve's house at nightfall. He lit his wall mounted torches and his fireplace. He put the bear meat we gathered on a roasting stick above the fire, and begun to cook the meat.

Zelda and I sat at the table, and engaged in conversation.

"You were talking about this city, Romun, and that you were the ambassador to there. Can you tell me a bit more?" I asked.

"Of course. Under the reign of my Grandfather King Kakeu, the city split from Hyrule, and chose a man named King Horatius. Kakeu tried to recalaim the city, but was assassinated, and my Father, King Agapetus, allowed it to be a separate nation, and even gave it some land as compensation for my Grandfather's actions. When I was 15, my father chose me to be the ambassador, as a sign that he intended peace. This is in fact why I am so capable with weapons, because I needed to defend myself on the road. About a month ago, Horatius died, and his son, King Ganondorf took his place." She explained

"And Ganondorf is the man who took our Triforces."

"Yes, that was Ganondorf." She confirmed.

"Dinner is ready." Steve said, and walked up to us with a plate of Bear Meat.

"Looks appetizing." I said, jokingly.

"Hey, it may look bad, but bear so some of the best available." Steve defended.

"Alright, I'll take you're word for it." I said, then I began to eat.

The meat was delicious.

"This meat is delicious." Zelda said.

"It is." I agreed.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth." Zelda scalded.

"Sorry, your majesty." I said, with food in my mouth.

"Link!"

I swallowed. "Sorry!"

Zelda laughed. "I'm joking. I do it sometimes to."

"Really? The princess, paragon of virtue, talks with food in her mouth?" I joked.

"Be quiet you." She giggled.

"I thought you had no power here?" I asked, trying not to laugh.

"Time for bed!" Steve exclaimed, suddenly.

"You don't have jurisdiction over us." I said.

"It's my house. Off to bed with you." He gestured at us to move.

"Alright, fine." Zelda and I surrendered.

We made our way to the guest room.

"So, uhh, you want me to look away while you get a sleeping gown on?"

"I don't know if you know this, but I didn't get time to pack clothes before we were teleported here." She joked.

"Oh, right. Well, goodnight then, Your Majesty."

"Please, call me Zelda. I'm no princess here." She requested.

"Goodnight, Zelda." I whispered.

"Goodnight, Link." She whispered back.

* * *

Chapter three is done. And if you're wondering, I imagined Steve with a Scottish accent, which is why he talks oddly, and why he uses "din't" instead of "don't."

Translations:

saltun- Forest

Magnan Saltun- Great Forest


	4. Epona

Enjoy chapter four. Remember to review.

* * *

LINK  
"Link..."

"Jerome! Jerome, where are you?!"

"Link..."

"Where are you!?"

"Find it..."

"Find what?! Jerome, what is it!?"

The ghostly image of a compass appeared in front of me.

"Find it..."

* * *

I awoke rather abruptly.

"Link? Are you okay?" A familiar feminine voice asked.

"Oh, hullo Your High-" Zelda gave me a look.

"-Zelda. I'm fine, I just had a odd dream."

"How so?" She asked.

"My brother Jerome was moaning my name, and telling me to find some sort of compass. Very strange, if you ask me." I explained.

"Hmm. I don't remember any kind of compass in Hylian mythology."

"Well, if we were to take this dream seriously, we should ask Steve."

"I agree."

We found Steve working in his shop just outside the cottage. He appeared to be fulfilling his promise of a second bed.

"Ah! Link! Just who I needed. Would you be so kind as to help me out here?"

I gave Zelda a look that said "Go, I'll ask him while I'm working."

"Of course. How may I be of assistance?" I asked.

"Go get some lumber from the forest outside."

"Alright, but may I ask a question first?"

"Ask away."

"Are there any legends in this realm that mention a compass?"

"... … I din't know. You'd have to travel to Beaverwood, the closest town to have a temple in it. That's a four hour journey on horseback, and we din't have any horses."

"Alright, well, I'll get that lumber for you."

I went to the door and was about to leave when a voice stopped me.

"What did he say?" Zelda asked me.

"He doesn't know. I'd need to go to a town called Beaverwood for that information. He says it's a days travel in horseback. Anyway, I need to get some lumber, if you'll excuse me."

* * *

I left the house to gather the lumber like Steve asked, so I grabbed a wheel barrel, walked in the direction of the clearing. I chose the clearing so I would have a place to put the lumber as I cut the logs, due to how thick the forest is.

By the time I got to the clearing, it was about noon. I grabbed my axe and walked to the nearest tree that wouldn't fall down on top of me, and began to chop. After about a minute, there was an audible crack, and the tree toppled to the ground. I walked of over and began splitting the tree into parts. I gathered up my wood and put it into the wheel barrel.

I was about halfway back to the house, when I heard a growling noise. I dropped the wheel barrel, and spun around to come face to face with a wolf. It started to stalk me, and as I drew my dagger, it lunged. I blocked it with my arm, and threw it off. It rolled onto its feet and tried to run behind me. As if passed, I swung my dagger and cut a gash in the wolf's side. It howled in pain, and lunged me again. It but me in the leg before I could thrust downward, stabbing the beast in its head.

I threw the corpse to the ground and tried to walk over to the wheel barrel, but fell over in pain.

"Crap." I whispered to myself. "Now what?"

I looked around, trying to see what I could do, when I noticed my dagger still in the wolf's head. Then, it dawned on me. Of course! I thought to myself. I can cut a bit off my tunic to make a bandage!

I crawled over to the wolf, and grabbed my dagger. Then, I brought it to my sleeve and cut a bit off, to tie around my wound. I can get this treated properly later.

Deciding that my own well being is more important then wood, I left without it, though it did bring some wolf meat to eat for dinner.

* * *

I got back to the house about an hour later, with the makeshift bandage turning red with my blood.

I opened the door to see Zelda and Steve talking at the table.

"Oh, you're back I see- WHAT IN NAYRU'S NAME HAPPEND TO YOR LEG?" Zelda screamed.

"There was a wolf."

"Gatheum. Don't ya know better than to be off fighten wolfs? Specially' when ya need to get wood?" Steve asked.

"It attacked me- OW!" I fell out of the doorway.

"Okay, we need to get you proper medication, now." He looked at Zelda. "You- Get some cleansing potions. It may be infected." He looked at me. "C'mon, were going to the medical room."

He helped me to my feet and started walking me to his medical area. He layed me down on a wooden table, and started going through his cabinets.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

"Nequlor berries. They're excellent pain killers."

Zelda walked in the room.

"Here." She handed him a brown colored potion, which I assumed to be a cleansing potion.

"No, keep it. You need to use it in his wound."

She walked to me. "Brace yourself, these sting."

She unwrapped my bandage and began to slowly pour the brown liquid onto my leg. I winced in pain.

"His legs been treated." She told Steve.

"Alright. And I just found the thing I need."

He walked over and crushed a red looking berry over my wound. The pain in my leg started to decrease instantly.

"There. Now, we just have to wrap it up, and give him a red potion, and wait a few minutes."

Zelda handed him a new bandage, and he warped it around my leg. He grabbed a red potion from the counter, and gave it to me. I gulped it down quickly.

"Alright, now get up, and let the potion do it's work."

I got off the table and on to my feet.

"Now, did ya get the wood?" Steve asked me.

"No, I had to abandon it when I was attacked."

"Shame. We'll have to get it tomorrow."

"... Or not." Zelda said.

"What do ya mean?" I wondered.

"Just look!" She pointed out the window. A horse had brought the wheel barrel back.

I laughed. In fact, we all laughed.

"Well that's certainly convenient." I chuckled.

"More than ya know. You need one to get to Beaverwood, remember? I'll saddle it up, and bring it to the stable. After that, I'll make dinner." Steve said.

"I brought some wolf back, so we can heat that of we need to." I told him.

"Alright. Well go do something. I'll handle this."

* * *

After a couple of minutes passed, Steve opened the door and told us to go out to the stable.

"So, it's saddled up?" I asked.

"Yep. Also, it's a Girl. So, go ahead. Name her."

I thought for a moment. "Epona." I decided.

"Why Epona?" Zelda asked.

"It was my mother's name." I explained.

"Well it's a beautiful name." She replied.

"She's a beautiful horse." I said.

* * *

And with that, chapter four is over.

Translations:

Gatheum- A word that translates to "Damnit."


	5. Beaverwood

Here's chapter five. Sorry of its a bit short, but I had to end it there, otherwise it would've been too long.

* * *

I woke early, as to prepare my belongings for the journey to Beaverwood. The night before, Steve had given me an enchanted sack, which could hold many more items than I previously could. He also gave me his sword, along with the words "It's dangerous to travel alone. Take this." After I told him Zelda would be with me, he just shrugged and told me to keep it.

I put everything into my bag, except for my sword, which went into its sheath. I then made my way downstairs and left the building. I was greeted by Zelda, who was already there.

"Hullo, Zelda. I see you took no time at all getting prepared."

"Why do you say it like that?"

I got on Epona. "Say what like what?"

"The word 'Hello.' You say it weird. You say it like 'Hullo.'"

I kicked Epona gently in the side, a signal for her to start moving. "I say hullo just fine."

She giggled. "You just said it again. Say it with me. Hello."

"Hullo."

"Din, you're dense."

"No, you just refuse to admit that I say 'hullo' perfectly fine."

ZELDA  
Goddesses. As cute as he was, he is just way too stubborn.

"You just said it again." I told him.

"I'm saying it perfectly fine, Zelda. Besides, if I am saying it wrong, what's it matter? It's an accent."

"I didn't say it was wrong, I just think the way you say it is cu-" I cut myself off before I said anything embarrassing.

He took the hint anyway. "What was that?" He teased.

"N-Nothing." I said, awkwardly.

"C'mon, Princess, you can tell me."

I looked at him. "I told you I'm not royalty here. Call me Zelda."

He laughed. "Trying to change the subject won't work."

"I can still damn well try." I said, defiantly.

"Not like it'll work or anything." He responded.

"S-Shut up!"

"You have no power over me. You're not royalty here, remember?"

I sighed, defeated.

"Well if it's any consolation, you're pretty cute too. Especially when you're flustered."

My face was pink as a peach now. "Just ride, please."

* * *

LINK  
About four hours later, Beaverwood came in sight. The city seemed to be quite large, compared to the cities we knew in Hyrule. We rode into the city, and started looking for government looking areas, so we could get directions.

We found what looked like a guide area, and entered.

"Cuid facian tibi, hodi dou calve?" The man at the counter said.

"Uhhh, I don't speak the native language." I responded.

"Ah. I said what can I do for you two today?" He translated.

"We would like directions to where ever you keep you're lore."

"Lore?" The man asked?

"Legends, myths, stories, things like that." Zelda told him.

"Ah. You'll want the scholars building, just down the road, right next to the temple. You can't miss it."

"Thank you, sir."

"Just doing my job, ma'am."

We left the building and climbed back onto Epona, and trotted over to the building he told us about. The temple was very large, and was made of marble, even the columns in front of it. The scholars building next to it was a granite building with a very library-ish feel to it. We entered through the front room, were met with a man who looked like he really didn't want to be here.

"Names, please." The man had a very low, voice and almost sounded bored.

"Link Paralio."

"Zelda Nohansen."

"Alright, you may enter." The man moved away, me let us in the door.

"-Well if you must know, you are a VERY horrible actor."

"Thanks, dick."

"I am sorry, but it's the truth- Oh, hello."

Zelda elbowed me. "See he can say hello just fine, too."

"Would you drop that?" I cleared my throat. "Hullo, we have a few questions."

"Of course. My name is Proffesor Abraham Jones. This is my partner, Proffesor Adrian Gommor."

"I am Zelda Nohansen. This is my friend, Link Paralio. First, we need to know. Do you have any sort of legend, story, or even myth about a compass?"

"... ... ... So it is you." Prof. Jones said, vaguely.

"What? What do you mean?"

"It is an honor, Princess, Hero." Prof. Gommor responded

"What is going in here?" I demanded.

"To answer your question, we do have a legend about a compass. It goes like this."

The Legend of the Hero of Worlds:  
When the worlds were created, each was given a pantheon of gods, or in some cases, one omnipotent god, to watch over them. Our singular God is called Scienas. However there are other gods, for other realms. Out god foretold that on an unsuspecting day, from an unknown world, two would appear, and ask for the Dimensional Compass. One would be a hero, in a green cap, and another the princess of the other realm, found by her regal appearance and aura. These two would free their own realm from an unforgiving darkness, not once, but thrice.

LINK  
"And we know how to get you to the Compass." Prof. Jones ended.

"How? How do we find it?" I asked.

"You must find two gems. One opens the path to the compass, hidden on Pinewatch's temple's crowning jewel. One goes in a pedestal that opens the portal to the realm where the Compass lays. The first is in the temple here. The next, is hidden where the Forest wanes, and the plains rise. Now go, Hero, Princess, go and find your destiny." Prof. Gommor informed.

* * *

Thanks for all the support, guys. This story is being read quicker than any others. Anyway, if you like the story so far, favorite, if you want to keep tabs on its updates, follow it. If you have something to say, review. Im open to suggestions.


	6. Shopping Spree

As we left the building, a large downpour of rain began to come down on top of us. We ran between different bits of cover, such as a terrace, a building cover, and even an umbrella someone set up outside a shop. We used this strategy to make our way to a shop where we could buy things to prepare us for our decent into the temple. We were just outside "The Best Offence," when I realized that all I had were rupees. "Err, Zelda? All I have are rupees, and we aren't in our own dimension."

She paused. "Hmm. I didn't think about that. However, rupees are gems, correct? We'll just bring them to a gem appraiser to see how much they're worth, and sell them."

Using the same strategy we used before, we made our way to the nearest gem appraiser to get our rupees checked.

I opened the door and a set of chimes rang, signifying our entry. A fat man sitting behind a counter turned to around and saw us. "Hello, may I help you?" He called out.

Zelda nodded. "Yes, we have quite a few gemstones that we'd like you to appraise."

The man made an odd gesture, then spoke. "Of course. May I have a look?"

I opened my wallet, and poured my rupees on the counter. The man grabbed some sort of magnifying glass-like tool and looked at the gem.  
"Hmm. Brenda! Come out here, will you?"

A blonde haired girl in a pretty white dress came out, most likely Brenda. "What is it, sir?"

The man pointed to the rupees. "Could you do a read on these, tell me what they're made of?"

"Yessir." The girl, Brenda, walked up to them and cast some sort of spell, making her eyes glow green for a spell stopped, and the girl's eyes widened. "S-sir, these are pure diamond."

The man nearly fell over. "D-diamond, did you say?"

"Yessir."

He turned quickly to us. "I will give you one hundered thousand pounds for these!"

"How much is one pound?" I asked.

"Are you daft? One pound is the currency!"

"We'll take the deal." I said, instantly.

We shook hands, and he pulled out the money, and handed it to me.

"Best of luck on whatever it is you need this much money for. Thank you for your patronage." He thanked.

As we walked out the door, I could hear the joyous yells of the two gem appraisers. We made our way back to "The Best Offence" to start buying supplies.

We opened the door to a room that smelled of burning coal and metal. There were weapons scattered around the room, and armor hung up on mannequins. A large, strong looking man was behind the counter, hammering a blade. I walked up to him and cleared my throat.

"Hmm? Oh, hello. What can I do for you?"

We need a blade for the lady, and some armor for the both of us." I said.

The man looked at me, and then at Zelda. "What kind of sword would you like? Broadsword? Claymore? Rapier?"

"Do you have any cutlasses?" She asked.

"Sure. Just give me a moment. They're in the back." The man walked through a door next to his anvil, and came out with a simple silver rapier.

"Would you like anything engraved on it?" He asked.

"This design, please." She showed him the Triforce emblem.

"Okay, I'll work on it. Anything else?"

"Armor, preferably something light and durable, for both of us."

"Alright. For you, sir, I have chain mail. You can even wear you're clothes over it. For the lady, unfortunately, I only have leather. I'll be right back." He left us to go get the things, giving me and Zelda time to talk.

"So, now do you like the city?" I wondered.

She looked up at me with an awe I'd never seen before in her. "It's amazing! Bigger than any city in Hyrule, and with much more to do! There are so many stores, and inns, and restaurants!" She began to jump up and down with excitement.

I must've had an odd look on my face, because she quickly explained. "Sorry, I never get a chance to act like my real self in Hyrule. I'm royalty, and people expect me to be all, you know, regal."

I chuckled. "You don't need to apologize. I understand. Besides, it's actually pretty cute."

Her demeanor immediately changed. "What did you say?" She asked, slyly.

_Shit, did I say that out loud? _I thought to myself. "Um, nothing."

She got a bit closer to me. "Are you sure about that?" She smirked.

"Yes. I'm sure." I said, starting to feel a bit uncomfortable.

She locked her blue eyes with my hazel ones, when the smith came back in.

"Umm, am I intruding on something?"

We jumped away from each other. "No!" We shouted, at the same time.

"Well, here you go." He put the things we bought on the ground. "That be one thousand pounds."

I put the money on the table, and we walked out together, along with our things.

"We should go to an inn, to get a place to store these, and to sleep in the night." She reasoned.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Good idea."

We tan between bits of cover, like before, and made our way to the nearest inn, called "Ravio's Bunkhouse." It was a quaint little place with a purple theme. The man at the front was a man who looked simmilar to me, but with black hair.

"Hello, and welcome to Ravio's Bunkhouse! My names Ravio!" He greeted, cheerfully.

"Hello, I'm Link Paralio, and this is Zelda Nohansen. We'd like to rent a room."

"Would you like the honeymoon suite?" He asked.

"No! No, we're not-"

He laughed. "Sorry kid, just messin with ya. So, most rooms are 2,000 pounds a night, with two beds and one bath. Does that sound good for you?" He offered.

"Sure. As long as we have a place to keep our things." I agreed.

"Of course! That's a given. Follow me too you're room." He led us down a hall to a room with the number 017 written on it.

"Here, this is your room. Here are you're keys. Go in, check it out!" We opened the door and we entered. It was a small room, but it didn't feel too crowded. It felt like my home, actually. I put down my armor and weapons, and waited for Zelda to do the same.

"We should probably go and eat dinner." I said.

"I agree. Let's go!" She ran out the door, and I ran after her.

"Zelda, wait up! You don't even know where you're going!" She stopped in her tracks.

"You're right. Let's look around. It looks like the rain has stopped anyway.

We wondered around for a few minutes, looking for a restaurant to eat at. We came across one called "The Sanctuary." We entered, and were seated by a cute aqua haired girl named Seres. "Alright, now that you're seated, may I ask what you'll be eating?" She handed out menus and we filpped through them. I noticed they had some disticntly Hylian cuisine, though they had other things too. I wound up ordering a pig meat sandwich with lettuce, but something else cought Zelda's eye.

"What's a 'Ghost pepper?'" She asked.

"It's the hottest pepper known to us. You can try it, if you want, though be careful. Dont touch your eyes until you wash your hands after eating it. Also, it's not a full meal. Is there a meal you want?"

"I'll have the tomato soup, please. And the pepper."

The waitress left to go gather our food.

"Why do you want the pepper so badly? It could burn your tounge off, for all you know."

"I want to see how it tastes, and how hot it is." She responded.

The waitress came back with our food, this time followed by an odd man in a tuxedo. She seemed to be annoyed at him, but was taking calmly and politely. "No, Dampé, I don't want any wine, thank you."

"Are you sure?" The odd man asked.

"Yes Dampé, and I need to give these people their meals."

"Okay, I'll be back later." He nodded.

"Bye Dampé." She turned to us. "Here you go, enjoy."

She gave us our food, and gave Zelda the pepper. "Don't eat that until you finish the soup." She told her, then left to go wait in other tables.

Zelda gobbled down her soup twice as fast as I could eat my sandwich, then turned her attention to the pepper. She picked it up, and bit it off the stem in one bit. She ate and swallowed it, and looked upset. "It's not even ho- Oh sweet Nayru I need cold!" She freaked out, and cast a freeze spell on her mouth.

"Ahh. That's better."

I laughed. "Only you could just freeze your mouth and forget that you ate that pepper for a reason."

"Yep." She agreed.

After a little while longer, Seres came back to our table for the cost, which was 1,500 pounds. We forked over the money, and left for home, to sleep, and prepare for the long road ahead.

* * *

Not much to say about this chapter, other than I believe it's a bit longer than average, so enjoy!


	7. Beaverwood Temple

Time for the first dungeon. I'm not to good at combat sequences yet, but it came out good, I think.

* * *

I awoke early in the morning, at about sunrise. I dragged myself out of bed (which was way too comfortable to leave), and did a quick inventory. Afterward, I walked into the bathroom to find Zelda brushing her long, golden hair.

She looked at me. "Good morning, Link."

"Morning, Prin- err, Zelda." I corrected myself. I grabbed a toothbrush and began to clean my teeth of food and other things.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"I think so. I'd like some background information about the temple though."

"That's probably for the best."

We finished quickly, and made our way to the Temple, where we saw the two men who told us the legend the other day standing in front of it, just down the stairs.

I scanned my memory for their names. "Hullo, Prof... James, was it? And Gommorah?"

"Proffesors Jones and Gommor. And hello to you as well, Hero, Princess."  
Proff. Jones answered.

"We were wondering, what can you tell us about the Temple? So we know what we're getting into."

"We've never been inside ourselves, so we couldn't tell you much, other than the gem you are looking for is guarded by a some sort of shadow being. We can't tell you anything else." Gommor informed.

"Thank you. At least we know there's going to be a fight." Zelda thanked.

"Good luck on your journey. Your world depends on it." The proffesors said in unison.

We headed up the stairs and into the temple, preparing for anything.

* * *

ZELDA  
The first thing I noticed was the lighting. There was almost none, save for one pedestal of fire in the center. There were two other unlit pedestals on either side of the room, and a door that was blocked off by metal bars.

"Well now what?" Link grumbled.

"Calm down, it's a puzzle."

He looked at me angry for a moment, and then had a sudden change in expression. "I see what your getting at. We probably need to light the other two pedestals." He looked around the room. "Wood." He said. "We need wood. To light the other pedestals." He started moving around. I went in another direction, also looking for wood.

I came up against the left wall, and started feeling my hand along it, to see if there were any loose boards of wood invisible to us. I had pulled my hand about half way round when it knocked something over. I bent iver to grab it, and noticed immediately what is was. A wooden pole.

"Found it!" I called.

"Light the other pedestals!" Link called.

I walked up to the pedestal of fire, and lit the tip of my pole. I brought it to one of the unlit pedestals, and lit it. I then did the same to the other.

The room brightened up, and the metal bars blocking the door raised.

We started walking over to the door when a being translucent appeared out of nowhere.

"Poe!" I yelled.

We dashed to different sides of the room.

"Don't let it focus in one target!" Link ordered.

I grabbed my sword from its sheath, and waited for Link to strike. He sliced at the Poe, but it moved back, and into my own swinging blade. It cloaked itself, and I jumped back, staying away from the area. Link was opposite of me, circling around. It reappeared, and Link jumped at it, and brought his blade down upon it, killing it.

He looked at me. "Let's move on."

I nodded, and we opened up the door, and found ourselves in a room with a beam of light on our side of the room, and an eye shaped symbol over a blocked door in front of us. There was another door to our right that had chains and a lock over it. Next to the right wall was a couple of mirrors.

I looked at Link. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"We reflect the light into the eye with the mirrors?" He asked.

"Yup."

We each grabbed a mirror. Link went over to the where the light reached the wall, and I went to the wall where we came from. Link reflected the light into my mirror, and I reflected it into the eye. The door was unblocked.

We went over to the door, and stepped through.

* * *

LINK  
The door opened to a barely lit hallway complete with skulls hanging from the walls. The hallway was short, and at the end, there was a doorway.

We entered the doorway, and were presented by four piles of bones, and no other exit. There was also a small chest in the center. I walked over to open the chest, but it vanished, the door became blocked off behind us, and the piles of bones formed into errily human shapes.

"Mini-Stalfos!" I called out. I raised my shield, and Zelda did the same.

We began circling the beasts in opposite directions. They came at us with bone clubs, swinging them wildly in different directions. One hit me, and the Stalfos' arm went back. I swung my sword through it's rib-cage, and the skeleton crumbled into dust. Another came from my left. I pounded it with my shield, and decapitated it. The bones crumbled again.

Meanwhile, Zelda was having trouble dealing with her two Stalfos. The were attackeing her together, and she couldn't get a strike out without giving her opponents an opening. I charged at the beings and jumped. "Hiyaaahh!" My blade went clean through one, and it crumbled. My distraction gave Zelda an opening. She stabbed the other Stalfos through its abdomen, and it too crumbled.

The chest reappeared in the center, and the door was unblocked. I walked into the center and opened the chest. Inside was a little sliver key.

"We can use that key to open the door in the other room." Zelda said.

I nodded in agreement, and we went back to the other room.

The room was still empty, aside from the three lit pedestals. I put the key into the lock and twisted. The lock was unlocked and the chains fell, allowing the door to be opened. The next room was a slightly longer hallway with big rat in the center. It ran at us and I swung my sword,knocking it back. It ran at us again, and Zelda stabbed forward, killing it before it even reached us.

We went down the hall and into the next room. The room had two light sources similar to the previous room. There were another two eyes over a door to our left, but there were no mirrors to reflect with. Finally, there was a door to our right.

We want through the door on our right. It was a long room, with no other exits. The door behind us shut immediately, and two Poes appeared.

I grabbed my sword, and jumped at one Poe. I brought my sword down on it, and the Poe vanished. I rolled back, waiting for it to reappear. When it finally did, I swung, and the Poe fell to the ground, defeated.

I looked over at Zelda. She smiled. "Took you long enough."

"Meh. Mine vanished."

"Excuses, excuses. You're just mad that I'm a better fighter than you."

"Says the one who couldn't kill a Stalfos."

"Not fair! They double teamed me!"

"How does it feel? Oh wait, that came out wrong..."

She laughed. I blushed. A large chest appeared in the middle of the room.

I walked over and opened it. Inside was a Bow, with a few arrows.

"A Bow? Useful, I guess" I muttered.

"I suppose." Zelda said.

We moved on into the next room.

"We still have no way to open the door." I reminded.

"Not until we find a way to move those lights, no." Zelda agreed.

"Well..." A thought came to me. I fired my bow at the light. The light moved onto the eye above the door.

"It worked." I yelled, happy in what I accomplished.

"That was unexpected." Zelda said, simply.

I fired my bow at the other light source, and it moved into position as well. The door opened.

We moved on. The next room was a very long hallway, with a misshapen human in the center.

"Is that a ReDead?" Zelda asked.

"No, it's smaller. It also hasn't screamed at us." I replied.

I crept forward, not wanting to alert it. The moment I got with in two yards of it, however, the beast looked up and moaned. It stood up and crept closer. I swung my blade at it, cutting off its arm, watching the blood spew out. It kept walking, so I cut off it's other arm. It kept walking. I stabbed my sword in its chest. It kept walking. A jumped back and fired at arrow into its head. The beast finally crumpled over and died.

I grabbed my sword from its chest, and panted.

"That was close." I said.

"Yeah. You almost died."

"What the shit was that thing?" I asked, still out of breath.

"I don't know. Let's move on."

I nodded in agreement. The next room was a small room with a pedastal of fire, and a blocked door

"Now what?" I muttered.

"I would assume the key to opening the door has to do with the fire." Zelda speculated.

"I'll try putting it out. Maybe the door is light sensitive." I theorized.

I walked over and swung my sword at the fire. It went out in a puff of smoke, and as the light disappeared, we heard the door open. A faint light came from where the door was, and so we made our way to where the light came from. There was another long hallway, but with nothing in it. We made our way to the door on the end. It was blocked off, with an eye above it.

"I don't see any light sources." I said.

"Maybe one is blocked off. Look around." Zelda responded.

I looked up, where the light source would have to be. There was a boarded up window. I fired an arrow at it, and the wood fell, revealing the light of day onto the eye. The door opened.

We moved into a gigantic L shaped room, with windows letting in light from outside. There was a ledge on the far side do the room, with a stair case going up on top of it. There was a large chest in front of us, and some unlit pedestals. I walked over to the large chest. Inside, there was a large, golden key, and a lantern.

"Try lighting the pedestals with the lantern." I threw the lantern to Zelda.

"That was kinda obvious."

"Whatever." I muttered.

She walked up to each if the pedestals and lit them. The windows closed, but a staircase leading upward appeared. We climbed the staircase to the ledge, and climbed the next set of stairs to the second floor.

Up here, there was a long, wide room with a Large Stalfos in the middle. I readied my shield, when Zelda called me off.

"Let me do it. I'll distract him, while you fire arrows." She strategized.

She readied her sword, and ran at it, while I brought out my bow, and notched an arrow, waiting for a good opportunity.

Zelda fought with the skill of a thousand heroes. She blocked at the best moments, and stunned the monster as much as possible, giving me the best oppprtunities to fire. After all was said and done, the Stalfos fell. Then we saw the door behind us.

You wouldn't think of a door as intimidating, but this one was. It was large and metal, with a keyhole for the large key I got earlier.

"Whatever's behind this door, I'm pretty sure it can't be good." Zelda reasoned.

Without any consideration, I opened the door, and we stepped through, into a large circular chamber.

* * *

A/N: Here's how boss battles will work. They open with the bosses name and title, like "Electric Anemone Barinade" like in Ocarina of Time, and will typically be in two stages. They will occasionally have more, and will usually be at the end of a dungeon chapter.

* * *

SHADOW CLONE DRAK LINK

Immediately after this, the door shut behind us, and the shadows around the room made its way to the center, forming a Hylian like being, but made of dark colors, like black and grey.

"Link?" Zelda called.

"Yes?" I responded.

"That thing looms exactly like you."

I took a moment to look at it. It DID look exactly like me.

I gave my bow to Zelda. "Use this." Then, I ran at it. I jumped, and it jumped. I swung, it swung. I blocked, it blocked. I circled, it circled. Zelda's arrows just went right through him, it, whatever.

"Link! It's an exact clone of you! Using your normal techniques won't work!" Zelda yelled.

"Then I won't use my normal techniques." I muttered.

I switched my sword hand and my shield hand. I now fought with my right, and blocked with my left.

The beast became confused. It tried to block my attacks, but it would always block as if I was using my other hand. I swiped at his chest, and he was forced back by my sword. He jumped at me, and I sidestepped. His sword was forced into the ground. I took this opportunity to whitle at his health. He grabbed his sword and bashed me to the ground. His eyes turned to Zelda. He ran hat her. She got her sword ready, but he was faster. He sliced at heepr stomach, and a long gash was opened. She screamed in pain.

"Zelda!" I screamed. I ran over to the being and stabbed him in the back.

He started to get desperate. It dropped its sword, and grabbed a second shield. It kept on blocking my attacks.

"Zelda! Ink so your hurt, but I need you to try firing an arrow!"

"They go through him, remember!?"

"Just try!"

She stumbled onto her feet, and did as I said. She fired an arrow. It hit the being straight in the head. I stabbed my sword through his chest, delivering the final blow. My clone exploded into shadows, and the room lit itself. Then, suddenly, two heart shaped objects came into being.

"I can't believe it!" Zelda said, in pain.

"What?" I asked

"These are Heart Containers! They magically increas the users Life Force permenantly, as well as fully healing them!" She was jumping up and down, squealing.

I realized what she was getting at. "Your wound!"

"Exactly!" She yelled.

"Lucky for us, there are two. One for us, one for you."

I helped her to her feet, and we walked of  
Very to them. We grabbed the containers, and instantly I felt a surge of energy and other pleasant things coursing through me. I felt like I could take on Ganondorf right then and there. Zelda's gash was also gone, and she looked much better.

"That's better." She said in relief.

The wall opened up in front of us, revealing a small chamber with a Red Gemstone, as well as a green glowing circle, which I assumed was a magical portal.

"I guess that's the first gemstone we need to get the compass." I walked up to it and grabbed it. We turned to the energy portal, and stepped through.

We reappeared at the door to the temple, back in the city.

"One temple down, one to go." I said.

"And then, we can go home." Zelda agreed.

"Then, we kick Ganondorf's blue ass all the way back to wherever he came from.

"Agreed." Zelda said.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that. Please leave a review, it helps me a lot.


	8. Forests of Agriso

Newest chapter is out, and FINALLY some Link and Zelda romance. I know you guys have been asking, so enjoy, and review.

* * *

"It's still morning." I pointed out.

"Not for long." Zelda responded.

"We should probably get medical supplies." I decided.

"Probably."

We left the temple stairs to find a herbal or medicinal shop. Lucky for us, there was one a block down the road from where we were. I opened the door, and a bell rang from above me.

There was a man in scrubs at the counter, talking to the merchant.

"-I don't care what the price is, we need these supplies! People could die!" The man in scrubs was angry.

"We just can't fill an order that size! We don't have the green potions available."

"What about ingredients?"

The man behind the counter sighed. "I told you before, we don't carry ingredients.

Zelda walked up to the man in scrubs.

"What ingredients do you need?" She asked.

The man in scrubs looked at her. "You would do that? I need about twenty Deku Seeds in addition to the potions he has."

Zelda opened up her bag. "Here. twenty Deku Seeds, free of charge."

The man in scrubs took the seeds in joy. "Thank you! Dius bless your heart!" He turned to the man behind the counter. "Now may I have the potions?"

"Of course. Give me the money and you can take em."

The man in scrubs gave the merchant the money. "The urn's on the self behind you."

The man in scrubs ran off.

The merchant turned to us. "Can I help you two?" He asked.

"Hullo, we just need a few red potions." I told him.

"How many?" He asked me.

"About ten, should do. And I have the jars, so don't worry." Zelda mentioned.

"Alright. That'll be a hundred pounds." I handed him the money. "In the corner of the room." He nodded to the urn.

We walked over to the red potion.

"That was interesting." I said, as we filled up the jars.

"No kidding."

We started our the door. "I guess their medical organizations don't get supplies like in Hyrule."

"Or it's civilian owned." Zelda pointed out.

"I guess. Now, where do we go next? Pinewood, right?" I asked.

"Pinewatch." Zelda corrected. "We should probably get a map of the world, to find it."

"Right." I raised up my arm. "ANYONE GOT A MAP OF THE WORLD?"

"Why don't ya keep it down?!" A man yelled.

"Smooth." Zelda joked.

"Yup. That's me. Smooth Link, smooth as stone."

Zelda chuckled.

A lady walked up to us. "You the ones who need a map?"

I shot a glance at Zelda, who was looking at me.

"Uhh, yeah. Why, do you have one?" I asked, not taking my eyes off Zelda.

"Yeah. Here. It's enchanted, so you'll always know here you are." She handed us a map.

"Thanks... I guess." The lady ran off.

"That was odd." Zelda said, bluntly.

"See what happens when you ask for help?"

"Oh, quiet, you."

I chuckled. "Let's get on Epona and head to Pineville."

"Pinewatch." Zelda said, laughing under her breath.

"Right. Sorry."

We looked at the map. The top said _Land of Agriso, _and there was an arrow on the map facing the direction I was. Zelda pointed out Pinewatch, and we out the map away.

We got on Epona (who was thankfully where we left her: at the stables), and headed off.

The day went by fairly quickly, it seemed. The area was pretty heavily forested, but we could see a clearing coming up, at about sundown.

We stopped Epona by some bushes and a spring, to set up camp for the night.

"Zelda, get the sleeping sacks down from Epona. I'll set up the tent." I commanded.

I grabbed the fabric of the tent and the pikes to plant it in the ground. I then took one edge and slammed the pike in. I grabbed the hammer and started hammering it down. With one down, I moved on to the next, slamming in the poke, and hammering it down. I repeated for the next two. Finally, I grabbed the poles and lifted up the fabric, putting in the poles, to keep it up.

"Tent's done!" I called out.

I walked over to the bushes next to Epona to get some water fromthe spring when I heard something. I crouched down and crept my way to the bushes, when I saw something. Something bad.

"Hey, Zelda, look at this." I whispered.

"What is it? And why are we whispering?"

I pointed out behind the bushes to a large group of Bokoblins.

She sighed.

"Start taking them out with your bow, to take them by suprised." I ordered. "Once their numbers lower, I'll go in and start at them with my sword."

Zelda grabbed her bow and drew an arrow.

"Do you have one targeted?" I asked.

"Yeah. Tell me when to fire." She responded.

I counted down mentally. _Wait for it... Wait for it..._ "Now!" I whispered commandingly.

Zelda fired the bow and the Bokoblin went down. The others immediately gathered around the corpse to get a better look. Zelda drew another arrow and waited for my signal. "Now!" She fired, and another went down. I could see enough of them now to get a sense of the opposition. There were about ten of them, and we'd killed two, so that meant that there were twelve beforehand.

"I'm going in. Keep firing." I ran out from the bushes. "Hullo monsters of wherever the shit this place is! I hope you've made your amends!" Then I brought my blade down. The first was dead. I turned and cut the spear of the next Bokoblin in half. Then, I killed him too. Two of them surrounded my, and I swung my blade around me, killing both.

One hit me in the back, and I went stumbling forward. I tripped over myself, and went rolling. I dug my right foot into the ground, stopping the roll, and turned to face my next opponent.

I jumped up in the air and brought down the tip of my blade on the monster's head. It fell too. Zelda fired an arrow into a Bokoblins on my right, and I charged the one in front of me. Two left.

The first ran at me, and I stabbed its shoulder, pulled out, and ran at the next, unleashing another jump attack.

ZELDA  
Now there was one left, behind Link. I grabbed for an arrow, but came with nothing. I was out.

"Link! Behind you!" I shouted.

He turned around to get a facefull of spear butt. He fell to the ground and dropped his sword.

"No!" I grabbed my sword from my side, and ran at the Bokoblin. I jump kicked it, and it fell to the ground. I lifted it up with my left hand, slammed it against a tree, and slit its throat, letting the blood staining the grass to my right in red.

I knelt down next to Link. "You okay?" I asked.

"Hngh, fine, just, my face..."

"It's a bruise, not a cut." I informed.

"Okay, good."

I helped him to his feet. "Alright?"

"I'm fine, but it hurts like a bitch."

"You'll be fine. Besides, you look just as good as before."

"You... Think I look good?"

"Well, yeah, of course! Don't tell me you didn't have women chasing you around back in Hyrule."

"Eh, anyone who asked I turned down. I didn't have the time, I was raising... my brother." His expression changed instantly.

"Link... are you okay?" He didn't seem to hear me.

"Jerome..."

"Link, it's okay."

He looked up at me. "Do you know what it's like to lose everything you love? And I don't mean the land, or your home, I mean PEOPLE. Parents, siblings?" He looked like he was about to cry. "They died when I was ten. TEN. Jerome couldn't even remember them. He was the only family I had left then. Now he's gone too."

I grabbed his arm. "Link. We WILL get back to Hyrule. We WILL get back to your brother, and we WILL save it from Ganondorf."

"That's not what I mean." He looked up at me. "Before the archery tournament, before we met at my stall, Jerome went off on his own. When the tournament began, we couldn't find him. What if some thing happened? What if he died, or speaks kidnapped by Ganondorf?"

"That hasn't happened. Wanna know how I know? Because he contacted you. In your dream. That takes a lot of free power and patience, and if he was dead, he couldn't do it. If he was kidnapped, he'd be serving Ganondorf and wouldn't have the time." I sighed. "Link, be strong. For him. For Hyrule. For me."

Link nodded. "Thanks for the pep talk, but it's pretty late. We should probably go to bed."

I nodded, so we put the sleeping bags on the tent, and went it bed.


	9. Spike of the God

I want to mention my schedule for updating this and Eye of the Goddess. They will (hopefully) be updated bi-weekly. So for now, enjoy, and review.

* * *

I awoke early in the morning, with the moon still falling, and the sun still rising. Zelda was still sleeping, so I shook her a bit, and she stirred.

"Hmm... Huh? Oh. Hello Link." She woke.

"Morning, princess." I greeted, with a smile across my lips.

"Don't call me that, unless you like being called a peasant." She countered, still groggy.

I rolled my eyes. "Come one, we need to get going, if we want to reach Pinetown by is afternoon.

"Pineville- no, wait. Now you have me saying it!" She yelled.

"Sounds like someone's awake."

"Be quiet you."

I chuckled. "Just get dressed. We need to get going."

She rolled up her sack. "You already said that."

"Just do it." I commanded.

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "Yes mom."

I ignored her comment and got up on Epona.

"Time to ride the horse." She said.

I drew a blank. Epona whinnied.

"Get your mind out of the gutter. That's no way for the chosen here to act. Or his horse." She scolded.

"You said it, not me." I countered.

"Just ride." I giddied Epona up, and we took off.

I could tell we were getting closer to Pinewatch, because the air was constantly getting colder, and Pinewatch, occording to our map, was on the top of a tall mountain. Soon enough, we started climbing more and more steep slopes. Said slopes were also covered in ice, so climbing was treacherous, and we had to abandon Epona.

"Sorry, but we can't go on with you, girl. Try finding another way up." I told Epona. She neighed, and took off. We continued climbing the icy slopes.

"Zelda, careful. There's a large ice slick here." I warned

"I'll be fine- ow."

I looked down at her. "Your just luck that there wasn't a ledge to fall to the bottom and die here."

"If it is of ANY importance to you, I just fell."

"Alright, let me down." I jumped down and grabbed her arm. I tried to lift her up, and she tried to push, but the moment her right foot had pressure on it, she fell.

"Ow!" She yelped.

"Alright, let me have a look." I knelt down and grabbed her right ankle. She let out a whimper.

"My best guess? It's twisted."

Zelda sighed. "I'll need help walking then, for a few minutes."

I grabbed her right arm, and helped her to her feet.

"Let's go." I said. We climbed the slopes very carefully. I'd out her down and then lift her up sloped that were to steel to climb with two people, and she had to only use one foot, so she was leaning against my chest. I'd hadn't even realized how much taller I was compared to her until that point.

We'd gotten about halfway up the mountain before we realized we were on a mountain, because the forest cleared. We could see the sun in the distance, as well as the mix of ice, snow, and grass on the ground. The surface below the mountain was all pine woods.

"Wow. That is beautiful." Zelda murmured.

"Someone ought to paint a picture."

"Maybe, when this is all over, we can get an artist from Hyrule out here to make one. There seems to be an abundance of those as of late." Zelda joked.

I was about to respond, when I heard the snapping of tree branches behind me. I put Zelda down, and spun around to see three Chillfos standing there, Javelins ready. I raised my shield and prepared for a fight.

"Stay there." I told Zelda, without looking behind me.

The first Chillfos threw his Javelin. I blocked it, and swiped. The Chillfos jumped back. It created a new Javelin, and threw that. I blocked it again, and stabbed this time, for more reach. My blade impaled the beast, and it melted.

The next Chillfos made it's way towards me. It slashed it's spear at me, and I defledpcyed it off my shield. I swiped, but the frozen skeleton sidestepped. It stabbed at me, and I used my sword to knock the spear out of it's hands. Stunned by the sudden loss of it's weapon, the Chillfos made an opening for me to saly the beast.

I turned around to face the final one, when something heavy hit my chest. It javelin didn't impale me, the chain mail shattered it, but the force knocked me to the ground. The Chillfos pointed its new spear at my throat, and prepared to stab. I closed my eyes, preparing for death to overtake me. It never came.

I opened my eyes to see water cover me, and an arrow falcon ginto my lap, I looked to my left and saw Zelda, with her bow drawn, in post firing position.

She walked over and I extended my left hand, letting her grab it and pull me to my feet.

"Your lucky my foot recovered in time for that." She chuckled.

"If I were lucky, you wouldn't have fallen in the first place. You're damn heavy."

She looked at me. "Calling women heavy is hazardous to one's health."

"Yeah, all I'm doing it anyway."

A smile danced across her face. "I guess you really did have the Triforce of Courage then."

"Yup." I nodded.

We continued the accent to the top of the mountain together. The ground eventually turned to complete snow, and we had to be mindful of where we stepped constantly. After about an hour of trekking through snow, we came across a small village hidden from the snow behind a large outcropping in the mountain. There was an artificial (and most likely magical) heat and light source in the outcropping, keeping the village warm and bright. There were guards in steel armor surrounding the perimeter of the village.

As we walked inside, on of them turned to us. "Welcome to Pinewatch, enjoy your stay."

I turned to Zelda. "Finally, although I expected a more... City like settlement."

"Either way, this is our destination."

"Let's find the temple."

Truth be told the temple wasn't hard to find. It was by far the biggest building in the entire village.

When we entered, it wasn't anything like Beaverwood's Temple. It was one room, with the gem in the center and a Large Statue behind it, made of Marble and Gold.

Problem was, the gem was surrounded by Red Ice. There were Priests surrounding it, chanting.

I walked up behind them, and cleared my throat. The priests stopped chanting. Zelda gave me a look. "They could be in the middle of an important prayer!"

The oldest one spoke, with a voice radiating with wisdom. "It's quite alright, dear. We know who you are. The scholars in Beaverwood sent a message ahead of time." The scholars bowed. "We were, in fact, praying to Dius for your safe arrival."

The Priest made a gesture, and the others walked away, chatting amongst themselves. He spoke again. "Greetings Hero, Princess. I am Clericis, head Priest of the Church of Dius. I would offer the gem to you, but as you can see that is not an option."

"Is there anyway to get it out?" I asked.

"Yes. Blue Fire can melt the Red Ice. However, the only source if it is at the end of the Cave of Mirrors, which is guarded by the Ice King Hibern."

"Then that's our next objective. However, I do have some questions before we leave." Zelda said.

Clericis nodded. "Go ahead."


End file.
